184 


r 


CHINESE  DRUG  STORES 


IN- 


AMERICA. 


BY     STETWARX    CUt^IN. 


&w&%\ 


Bancroft  Library 


(lleprinted  from  the  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  December,  1SS7.) 


Chinese  Drug  Stores  in  America 


By  STEWART  CUT.IN*. 


Not  the  least  interesting  feature  of  the  Chine.se  quarter  in  our 
American  cities  are  the  drug  shops  which  these  conservative  people 
have  established  for  the  sale  of  their  native  drugs  in  connection  with 
their  general  stores. 

These  shops  reduplicate  the  herbalists'  shops  of  Hong  Kong,  and 
their  native  villages.  They  are  usually  conducted  by  a  separate  com- 
pany from  that  of  the  store  with  which  they  are  associated,  and  their 
supply  of  drugs  arranged  on  one  side  of  the  shop,  apart  from  the 
other  wares.  The  sign  of  the  company,  a  green  or  black  tablet  with 
the  felicitous  name  invariably  selected  for  such  enterprises,  inscribed 
in  gilded  letters,  is  suspended  within  the  shop. 

The  drugs,  such  as  are  frequently  called  for,  are  contained  in  boxes 
or  drawers  ranged  in  tiers  behind  the  counter.  These  boxes  are 
usually  divided  into  four  compartments,  and  their  contents  indicated 
by  neatly  written  labels  of  red  paper,  or  sometimes,  in  lieu  of  labels,  a 
tablet  i<  suspended  in  front  of  the  shelves,  upon  which  appears  a  plan 
of  their  multitudinous  contents.  Powders  are  kept  in  tin  or  brass 
boxes  in  a  drawer  beneath  the  counter;  a  series  of  bottles  contain  nuts 
and  mineral  substances;  while  poisons,  and  some  of  the  more  rare  and 
valuable  drugs,  are  dispensed  from  a  locked  case  with  glass  doors. 
Piled  high  above  the  cases  are  innumerable  packages,  each  with  the 
name  of  its  contents  written  on  the  projecting  end,  which  constitute 
the  re-erve  supply  of  drugs,  or  contain  barks  and  herbs  seldom  called 
for  by  the  practitioners  here.  Space  will  not  permit  any  extended 
reference  to  the  mattria  medica  of  China,  of  which  almost  a  complete 

i9.H 


collection  may  be  found  in  the  stores  we  have  described.  It  is  popu- 
larly known  to  us  through  the  accounts  of  travelers,  as  grotesque  and 
childish,  composed  of  "  dragons  bones  "  and  scorpions,  snake  skins 
and  melon  seeds,  and  substances  selected  more  on  account  of  their 
scarcity  and  curious  origin  than  for  any  medicinal  virtues  they  may 
possess.  The  results  of  such  observations  as  have  been  made  by 
competent  foreign  scholars  are  contained  in  transactions  of  learned 
societies  and  books  generally  inaccessible  to  American  students,  but 
they  go  far  to  show  that  many  of  their  drugs  are  not  without  great 
value,  a  large  number  of  them,  in  fact,  nearly  identical  with  those  of 
our  own  pharmacopeia,  and  that  many  important  discoveries  have 
resulted  from  the  centuries  of  experiment  upon  which  their  practice 
of  medicine  is  founded. 

Nearly  all  of  the  medicines  in  general  use  here,  with  a  few  import- 
ant exceptions,  are  of  vegetable  origin  and  consist  of  nuts,  berries, 
roots,  barks  and  herbs.  The  subjoined  list,  furnished  by  a  Chinese 
physician  in  Philadelphia,  contains  the  names  of  the  ten  drugs  he  con- 
siders valuable,  if  not  indispensable,  and  gives  some  idea  of  the  sub- 
stances actually  employed  in  their  practice : 

£  Sri:   Chingfong  long.     The  root  of  a  plant. 

^f\^\  Ho  Shau  U.  Root  of  Aconitum  Japonicum.1  From  Szechuen 
province. 

&  'JMf  Tai  tong  kwai.  Root  of  Aralia  edulis.2  From  Szechuen 
province. 

JP-jjlft*  Hung  kwo  ki.  Fruit  of  wild  Berberis  Lycium?'  From 
Szechuen  province. 

J'l  &tf  Ch'un  id  chung.  The  outer  bark  of  a  tree.  From  Szechuen 
province. 

&&,  Pak  k'i.     A  kind  of  lung  wort.4 

||  [a  Ch'un  kung.  "Nodular  masses  consisting  apparently  of  the 
rootstock  of  some  umbelliferous  plant  allied  to  angelica."5  From 
Szechuen  province. 

1  Daniel  Hanbury,  Science  Papers,  London,  1876,  p.  258. 
a  Ibid.,  p.  260. 

3  Catalogue  of  the  Chinese  Customs  Collection  at  the  International  Exhibition,  Phila- 
delphia, 1876.    Shanghai,  1876,  No.  3886. 

4  S.  Wells  Williams.    A   Tonic  Dictionary  of  the  Chinese  Language.    Canton, 
1856,  p.  153. 

6  Hanbury,  p.  260. 


#  j)t  Kbm  ts'b.     Liquorice  root. 

i&  Ji    Wdi  shdn.     The  root  of  a  water  plant. 

&  ;£.  7W  #/m£.  The  root  of  Atractylodes  alba.1  From  Szechuen 
province. 

The  medicines  are  all  imported  from  China,  either  from  Hong 
Kong  or  Canton,  and  reach  here  in  their  crude  state,  the  herbs  and 
barks  in  large  pieces,  and  the  tubers  and  roots  usually  entire.  It  is 
customary  to  cut  the  former  in  small  pieces,  and  slice  the  latter  in 
delicate  segments,  before  placing  them  in  the  drawers  and  boxes  for 
sale.  A  large  cleaver,  yeuk  fa'oi  k'ap,  mounted  with  a  hinge  upon  a 
slightly  inclined  table,  is  employed  to  chop  the  grasses  and  herbs  in 
convenient  lengths,  while  the  tubers  are  sliced  upon  an  instrument 
resembling  a  carpenter's  plane,  yeuk  p'o,  inserted  in  a  long  bench  upon 
which  the  operator  sits,  the  pieces  falling  through  upon  a  tray  placed 
beneath.  A  canoe-shaped  mortar  of  cast-iron,  yeuk  shiln,  is  employed 
to  reduce  some  of  the  more  refractory  nuts  and  minerals  to  powder. 
It  stands  upon  four  legs,  and  a  heavy  disk  of  iron  is  rolled  backwards 
and  forwards  within  it  by  means  of  a  wooden  axle  to  which  the  opera- 
tor applies  his  feet,  while  his  hands  are  free  to  perform  other  work. 

The  clerks  who  dispense  the  medicines  have  usually  had  some  ex- 
perience at  home.  They  are  paid  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  dollars 
per  month,  with  their  board  and  lodging,  the  current  wages  among 
the  Chinese  here  for  unskilled  labor;  but  their  work  is  light,  and 
they  sometimes  assist  with  the  lottery  drawings  for  which  they  receive 
additional  compensation.  They  frequently  act  as  bookkeepers,  and, 
in  common  with  the  shop-keeping  class,  are  brighter  and  better  edu- 
cated than  the  mass  of  the  immigrants.  Their  knowledge  of  medicine 
is  derived  almost  entirely  froni  experience,  no  books  on  the  subject 
being  used  or  studied  by  them  and  the  Pun  tso,  or  Herbal,  is  not  to  be 
found  in  any  of  their  shops. 

The  prescriptions  furnished  by  the  native  doctors,  which  are  usually 
written  upon  Chinese  letter-paper  and  a  foot  in  length,  contain  only  a 
list  of  the  names  and  quantities  of  the  medicines  required,  with  con- 
cise directions  for  their  preparation,  no  date  or  signature  being  ap- 
pended. Upon  being  presented  to  the  clerk  over  the  counter,  he 
weighs  out  the  ingredients,  and  places  them  separately  upon  a  large 
sheet  of  paper,  going  over  them  carefully  afterwards  to  prevent  any 
possible  mistake.  A  hand  balance,  It  tang,  is  used,  consisting  of  a 

1  Customs  Collection.    No.  4082. 


decimally  graduated,  ivory  rod,  from  one  end  of  which  a  brass  scale 
pan  is  suspended  by  silk  threads.  The  smaller  kind  weigh  from  one 
li  to  five  and  one-half  leung,  or  Chinese  ounces,1  and  are  remarka- 
bly accurate. 

Various  simple  expedients  are  resorted  to  by  the  clerk  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  medicines.  Some  are  powdered  in  the  upright  iron  mor- 
tar, chung  hdm,  and  others  in  the  porcelain  mortar,  lui  mi;  certain 
roots  and  seeds  are  roasted  in  a  pan,  while  others  are  steeped  for  a 
few  moments  in  Chinese  rice  spirits.  The  package  of  medicine  is 
carried  home  to  be  boiled,  and  the  infusion  taken  at  one  dose  by  the 
patient.  Some  hak  tsd,  Chinese  prunes,  are  usually  furnished  to  be 
eaten  at  the  same  time.  The  prescription,  of  which  no  record  is  kept, 
is  returned  with  the  medicine. 

The  practice  of  medicine  by  the  Chinese  doctors  here  is  confined 
almost  entirely  to  what  is  called  by  the  Chinese  noi  fo,  or  internal 
medicine.  Ngoi  fo,  "external  practice"  or  surgery,  which  consti- 
tutes a  distinct  branch  of  their  healing  art,  is  little  understood  by 
them,  and  their  patients  seldom  make  greater  demands  upon  them 
than  for  a  cure  for  a  cold,  indigestion  or  headache.  But  slight  as 
may  be  their  ailments,  the  Chinese  of  our  cities  are  constantly  taking 
medicines.  Well,  they  resort  to  prophylactics,  or  try  to  improve  their 
digestion ;  ill,  they  take  one  prescription  after  another,  and  drink 
quantities  of  unpalatable  tea  every  night,  usually,  upon  their  own 
testimony,  to  little  advantage. 

No  less  than  four  shops  supply  medicines  to  the  little  colony  in 
Philadelphia,  and  day  and  night  their  clerks  are  busy,  weighing  and 
pounding  and  tying  up  packages  for  the  relief  of  their  suffering 
countrymen.  Nor  are  the  drugs  regularly  prescribed  by  their  phy- 
sicians the  only  medicine  used  by  them  ;  almost  every  shop  furnishes 
an  assortment  of  pills  and  teas  compounded  by  Canton  pharmacists. 

First  among  these  are  the  Wai  Shang  Un,  or  "  Life  Preserv- 
ing Pills/7  which  are  taken  by  both  the  sick  and  well  on  account 
of  their  supposed  vitalizing  properties.  In  common  with  many  other 
Chinese  pills  they  are  enclosed  in  a  shell  of  vegetable  wax,  upon  which 
is  stamped  the  name,  with  that  of  the  makers,  in  vermilion  and  gold. 

1    1  li  =.57984  grains,  Troy. 

10  li     =lfan    =5.7984 

10  fan  =1  te'm  =57.984 

10  ts'in  =1  Z£wr?</=579.84          "        " 


One  of  these  boluses — they  are  nearly  an  inch  in  diameter — \s  taken 
at  a  dose.  The  usual  price  for  the  best  kind  is  one  dollar  apiece. 
They  are  said  to  be  composed  of  yan  sham  (Manchurian  ginseng),  luk 
yung  (deer's  horns),1  and  other  expensive  drugs.  A  cheaper  kind  is 
entitled  upon  a  printed  advertisement,  Yan  sham  luk  yung  ning  shan 
po  shan  tin — (ginseng  and  deer's-hom  pills  for  tranquilizing  the  spirits 
and  strengthening  the  kidneys).  These  also  purport  to  contain  yuk 
kwai,  a  precious  cinnamon,  the  bark  of  the  Cinnamomum  Cassia  (?),  one 
of  their  most  highly  valued  drugs.  That  used  by  the  Chinese  phar- 
macists here  is  imported  in  boxes  covered  with  raw  silk,  each  contain- 
ing one  piece,  about  fourteen  inches  in  length.  The  price  varies 
with  the  quality,  from  two  dollars  and  a  half  to  five  dollars  for  one 
leung. 

Su  hop  I'm  (rose  mallows  pills),  are  taken  to  relieve  flatulency;  king 
fung  tin  are  intended  for  children ;  ying  im  ugdn  fin  (the  well  approved 
eye  pills),  are  dissolved  in  water  and  used  as  an  eye  lotion  ;  Shan  hau 
pak  chuk  -fin  purport  to  be  a  remedy  for  a  certain  disease,  and  Shan  hau 
hung  itn  (Divinely  efficacious  red  pills),  are  taken  as  a  prophylactic 
against  the  same  complaint.  Occult  and  magical  properties  are  claimed 
for  nearly  all  of  these  compounds,  and  they  are  not  regarded  with  much 
favor  by  the  regular  physicians. 

Several  varieties  of  ginseng  are  sold  in  the  shops.  The  Ameri- 
can root,  sold  under  the  name  of  yeung  sham  (foreign  ginseng),  is 
the  cheapest,  the  current  price  being  40  cents  per  leung.  Next 
in  value  is  kat  lam  sham,  said  to  be  obtained  from  Corea,  costing 
50  cents  per  leung.  Kb  lai  sham  (Corean  ginseng),  is  the  kind  most 
used  here,  and  costs  from  $2.50  to  $3.50  per  leung.  Yan  sham, 
Chinese  or  Manchurian  ginseng,  the  most  precious  and  famous  drug  of 
the  Chinese  pharmacopoeia,  is  seldom,  if  ever,  to  be  found  in  the  stores. 
Occasionally  one  sees  small  roots  purporting  to  be  yan  sham  kept 
wrapped  in  raw  cotton  in  tin  boxes;  but  the  enormous  price  asked  for 
them,  often  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  dollars  for  one  leung,  prevents 
their  use  except  in  extreme  cases,  or  as  a  matter  of  luxurious  extrava- 
gance. Bancroft  U 

In  concluding  these  notes,  we  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  Ameri- 
can students  to  the  field  afforded  by  these  Chinese  drug  shops  for  the 
investigation  and  study  of  Chinese  materia  medica.  Local  observers 

1  Two  deer's  horns  exposed  in  the  window  of  a  Chinese  shop  in  Phil  idelphia 
are  said  by  the  proprietor  to  have  cost  ninety -five  dollars  for  the  pair. 


6 

in  the  Treaty  Ports  have  made  many  observations  ;  the  series  of  papers 
now  in  course  of  publication  by  Mr.  Charles  Ford,  assisted  by  his  able 
colleagues  in  The  China  Review,  are  a  most  valuable  contribution;  but 
the  subject  is  far  from  exhausted,  and  the  student  of  historical  medi- 
cine, who  finds  thus  presented  to  him  many  of  the  drugs  and  methods 
of  the  mediaeval  leech,  cannot  fail  to  appreciate  the  light  thrown  by 
them  upon  the  origin  and  development  of  the  science  of  medicine  in 
the  western  world.  How  far  Europe  has  been  indebted  to  China  in 
this,  as  in  so  many  of  the  useful  arts,  remains  as  yet  almost  a  matter 
of  conjecture. 


